AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Appier Not at His Best, but Still Gets 11th Win

Kansas City Manager Bob Boone said Kevin Appier “just wasn’t very strong.”

It wasn’t a loss that Boone was talking about, just a league-leading 11th victory for Appier in which he dominated less than usual despite allowing only three hits in 7 1/3 innings as the Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-0, Friday night at Kansas City.

“I didn’t have great stuff, but it was a great game ‘cause we won,” said Appier (11-2).

Appier had two walks and two strikeouts while notching his fifth consecutive victory and reaching 11 victories quicker than any pitcher in team history.

Gary Gaetti’s two-run homer capped a four-run sixth inning against Kevin Tapani (4-7).

Chicago 12, Cleveland 5--The White Sox looked nothing like a team 17 1/2 games out of first place, pounding out a season-high 20 hits, including a three-run homer by Frank Thomas, in routing the Indians at Chicago.

Jason Bere (3-6) pitched into the seventh inning for the victory. Charles Nagy (4-4) was the loser.

New York 6, Toronto 2--Jack McDowell (4-4) outpitched an unusually wild David Cone (5-4) in a matchup of the AL’s last two Cy Young Award winners in leading the Yankees at New York.

Paul O’Neill homered and had three RBIs for the Yankees.

Cone walked six in the first four innings, leading to three runs.

Baltimore 7, Boston 5--Mike Mussina (6-5) rebounded from two consecutive poor performances with 6 2/3 solid innings in a victory over the error-prone Red Sox at Baltimore.

Rafael Palmeiro scored three runs, Jeff Manto and Kevin Bass had two RBIs each and Brady Anderson homered for the Orioles, who scored three unearned runs off two Boston errors.

Boston’s Jose Canseco ended his 0-for-28 streak with a single.

Texas 7, Oakland 4--Will Clark’s two-run single keyed a four-run fourth inning and the Rangers took advantage of Dave Stewart’s wildness at Arlington, Tex.

Kenny Rogers (8-3) got his fifth consecutive home victory.

Detroit 5, Milwaukee 2--David Wells (5-3) stayed undefeated at Tiger Stadium this season as John Flaherty homered twice and Bobby Higginson and Chad Curtis hit solo shots in ending the Brewers’ three-game winning streak.